Archive for February, 2011

Sov Wars: Explain what Electus Matari stands for and what prompted you to join them.

Gottii: Well, it’s hard to speak for all of EM. WIth it’s numbers, almost 300 pilots, all roleplayers, it’s as much a community as an alliance. I would say that EM’s one universal truth is that it represents immersionist RP, an attempt to combine playing the game with playing the character as much as possible.

While our pilots all have various interests, from pvp to industry to exploration to trade, every player is a roleplayer on some level. I’m sure EM stands for quite a bit of other things as well. Maturity and trying to be civil, IC and OOC. No smacking or mindless chestbeating. Professionalism. EM has some of the best pilots I’ve seen in whatever they do.

For my first year in EVE, I wasnt sure what I was going to do. I ran some missions, and build up my SPs, and played when I could. I was in law school at the time, so I didnt have much time for anything more. I finally joined EM when I decided I wanted to focus on roleplay. I tinkered with the idea of going to 0.0, but the reality of alarm clock ops and the constant grind of massive powerbloc gaming was a bit more than my schedule could take.

I happened to be playing a Brutor, which I started with mostly because of the PER/WIL bonuses and the sunglasses more than any decision I was going to RP a Minmatar. But, when I finally decided to, EM seemed the natural choice. It had a lot going for it, a good reputation, a large group of competent and mature pilots, and basically seemed to be the ideal place to roleplay a minmatar character. So I left the TFL and joined EM, and its been great ever since.

Sov Wars: What have you learned from EM?

Gottii: Well, it taught me the game really. I had some pvp experiences from the TLF, but never much time to devote to it. EM’s fleets were a great place to learn low-sec pvp.

It also taught me a lot about roleplay, and more than anything helped define my character. One of the great things about immersionist RP is that you’re constantly asked to refine your character. It’s not all about the latest big drama or drinking in a bar….some of it is simple “everyday” conversation, that just happens to be in character.

So I would say it taught me how to better play and refine a character. That and how to fly Vagabonds.

Sov Wars: Does EM actively support Matari Fleets in any way?

Gottii: EM tries to support the TLF as much as it can, though its hampered by the rules not allowing alliances in FW obviously. EM provides a prize fund for the most active militia pilots and corps, who collect the most victory points.

We also fly with TLF fleets off and on, and engage the targets we can, or help them against outlaw pirates.

Roughly 18 months ago, a number of EM corps broke off and joined the TLF temporarily, which a lot of pilots enjoyed.

Basically, EM tries to help the TLF as much as current game rules allow, though many EM pilots would be very happy if CCP would allow non-sov holding alliances to join FW.

As for Amarrian militia pilots, EM has every pilot in the 24th set Red. So we’ll engage any Amarrian militia pilot if given the choice.

In fact, any pilot engaging Minmatar NPCs in a plex has, in effect, has shown to be hostile to the Republic ICly, and we’re clear to fire on those pilots as well.

Sov Wars: Have you been involved in FW? If so, describe your experience.

Gottii: Well, I’m an old TLF vet, actually. I joined up as soon as it was formed. And those were wild days. It was a bit chaotic, but everyone was excited, and there was quite a buzz about it at the beginning. I pretty much hoped in a rifter and went out into lowsec, not really knowing what I was doing but eager to shoot something.

I PVPed off and on in the TLF, as much as real life allowed. I remember getting schooled by a PIE pilot actually, which really left an impression on me. I tried hard to work on PVP from that point on.

Eventually, it got a little one sided. The TLF had taken a large number of systems from the 24th, and it got a bit dull. At that point I wanted to try RP in eve, and joined up with EM.

Since then, as I mentioned above, some EM corps joined the TLF for a short time, and we still run joint-ops with a lot of blues in the TLF as much as we can.

Sov Wars: In your opinion, who are the stand out Amarr/Minmatar FW corps?

Gottii: lol ah man, putting me on the spot. Honestly, I’m not involved enough in the day-to-day of FW to know every corp and every pilot. But, there are the obvious ones. PIE and KOTMC and Core Impulse on the Amarrian side.

ROSS and IFW and Murientor Tribe are some of the TLF corps that I’ve always been impressed with. But I’m sure I’m missing others.

Sov Wars: What is your personal opinion about pirates (SCUM, Tics).

Gottii: Well, while my character is a sworn anti-pirate, I think a lot of pirates are great pilots and fun people to play the game with. I mean, we need good pirates to make our game fun. After hunting pirates for so long, I’ve learned to know a lot of them, and im OOC friends with quite a few, even if we happily shoot at each other in space.

That said, there are more than a few “pirates” who are more griefers than anything else. Using make-believe internet spaceship piracy as a reason to be real life internet bullies. Not really big fans of them.

Sov Wars: Do you think plexing and system capturing in FW is worthwhile?

Gottii: Meh, not really. I mean, EVE is all about finding ways to set your own goalposts and create your own measures of success. Its part of the “sandbox” I guess.

But, an idea Elsebeth had really made a lot of since to me, I wish there was no way to “opt out” of system occupancy in FW.

It would be great if system occupancy had some direct, tangible effect on all the pilots in that system or constellation, like the new Incusions.

But, if youre in FW, then its a goal as worth as any other. It gives you a reason and a mission, and thats really valuable in EVE. I’ve circled my fair share of buttons I guess.

I guess my final answer would be…”it’s worthwhile if youre in FW and devoted to the conflict, but I think there are a lot of doable ways that it could be a lot more worthwhile.”

Sov Wars: What would you like to see change in FW if CCP decided to rebuff it?

Gottii: Well, like I said above, would be nice if system occupancy meant more than a changed name in the upper left of your screen.

Also, I would love to see alliances allowed in, as long as it had some kind of screening function to keep the huge powerblocs from simply farming FW for LPs. Maybe require a certain alliance-wide standing or something.

The missions could use a bit of revamping as well. By far my biggest complaint is the way plexes are seeded. To really have any hope of being useful in capturing a system, you have to be there right after downtime.

Sov Wars: EM has been at war with PIE for years, do you think that will ever end?

Gottii: God I hope not, lol. I can remember almost all of my PIE kills. Honestly, as a player and particularly as a roleplayer, I have nothing but respect and even a bit of envy for PIE. I love what they were able to come up with, their culture, their identity.

I recently formed a new corp with some other pilots, and we looked to some of what made PIE really distinct when trying to come up with our own ideas.

So, I really hope the war keeps on going. In EVE, youre often defined by your opponents. And theyre great opponents to have.

Sov Wars: Does EM wish just to help defend Matari territories or do they also want to take Amarrian systems ?

Gottii: As for the first one, EM’s stated goal is to defend the Republic and its citizens. What the means exactly is sometimes up for IC debate. Is a Matari slave a Republic citizen? How can we best defend the Republc? that kind of thing. But, from a practical OOC standpoint, we’re happy to sit in the Republic and kill stuff in Minmatar low and nul sec

Sov Wars: How often will a corp split from EM and join the militia to fight/plex?

Gottii: It’s a very rare thing for a corp to leave EM and join the TLF. It’s happened before, and might happen again, but its not regular by any means.

Sov Wars: How would a player join EM if interested?

Gottii: If interested, every corp in EM has a recruiting thread on the public forums, as well as threads on the EVE site and whatnot. The EM forums would be the best place to look, most likely.

The system of Arzad in Devoid region fell under Minmatar occupancy after several heated battles for control of the star system earlier tonight. Due to the importance of Arzad as the home of the Minmatar Rebellion, several Matari FW corporations have focused their efforts on re-claiming this system.

Today, these efforts paid off when the system went vulnerable and the Minmatar militia laid siege to the control bunker. The Amarr Militia swiftly responded the threat and rallied a small fleet to battle against the Minmatar at the bunker. During the initial engagement, the Minmatar suffered over a billion ISK loss, with ILoveMining’s Aeon barely escaping.

As the Amarrian Fleet disbaned and returned to their respective home systems, reports surfaced of a new attempt to take the bunker by a stronger, newly reshipped Minmatar force, including multiple dreadnaughts. Amarrian Fleet Commander Predator Elite scrambled to reform fleet and within moments took a battleship fleet into the system with two carriers on standby.

While engaging the sieged dreadnaughts and their support fleet, the Amarrians were hotdropped by the super capital duo of Mina Wolf and Bald Beaver.

This final engagement brought about the defeat of the Amarrian fleet and the destruction of the control bunker. Notable losses consisted of Esna Pitojee’s Archon, King Rothgar’s Archon, and Predator Elite’s self-destructed Bhaalgorn.

Sov Wars: Super carriers are considered to be the WMD’s in Eve. Do you think this is true?

Mina Wolf: Definetly not, maybe 10 SC’s being drop at once can be considered a WMD but a lone SC is still rather vulnerable without a sufficient support fleet.

Sov Wars: As super caps can change the tide of a battle in a heartbeat do you think this gives the Matari Militia an advantage over the Amarrian?

Mina Wolf: In the U.S. TZ, yes, because our overall cap power is greater than that of the Amarr militia; however, in the E.U. TZ the Amarrian militia has the ability to call the Nihilist SC fleet which greatly overpowers anything the E.U. Minmatar militia can muster.

Sov Wars: Out of all the super carriers you fly a Nyx. Do you think the Nyx is better then others of it’s class or depends on the situation?

Mina Wolf: It’s situational. The Nyx is best when not getting shot at, but if you are getting shot then the Aeon is the best.

Sov Wars: Do you think bringing a super capital to FW is unfair or is all fair in love and war?

Mina Wolf: All is fair in my opinion.

Sov Wars: Why did you choose to Matari Militia over the other factions?

Mina Wolf: I had a real life friend that was here in Minmatar Militia and I’ve been given no reason to leave yet.

Sov Wars: What it like being in IFW? Is there any other Militia corp you’d consider joining?

Mina Wolf: The IFW is an interesting place to be. Khrias said it best when he said “IFW isn’t really a corp, it’s just a thinktank for assholes.” To be in IFW you need to be self sufficient, situationally aware, and most important of all you need thick skin. Honestly if our militia thinks we troll them harshly they should see our corp chat.

As for other corps I wouldnt mind joining. I’d say that the old guard U.S. tz corps like FUGS, Huang would be high on the list with Valklear Guard, B.S.P, and Autoz rounding out the top five.

Sov Wars: Do you think you’ll end up going to null-sec at some point or will you be staying in FW?

Mina Wolf: I’ll be staying in FW as long as the Latenight group stays together.

Sov Wars: People say that FW is neglected by CCP and has many problems. What’s your take on plexing? FW missions? PvP in FW?

Mina Wolf: FW is definetly neglected by CCP. I’m not much of a missioner so I don’t really have anything to say about it. As for plexing there needs to be some type of a reward for it. If it was more meaningful I think you would see a lot more plexing and systems changing hands. Some might say that the PvP in FW is all about blob warfare. My personal opinion is that the PvP is fine and that anybody who complains about blobs is just mad that they didnt have one of their own.

Sov Wars: If you could add or change something in FW what would you suggest to CCP?

Mina Wolf: Make militia stations exclude those from the “enemy” militias.

Sov Wars: How do you feel about Dark Rising or PL being in FW areas are they a problem or just more targets to shoot?

Mina Wolf: They’re just annoying. You know that if they’re around they have backup so unless there can be a truce to fight them then its just best to let them do what they want and ignore them.

Sov Wars: Do you think supercaps in lowsec are overpowered, due to the inability to set up warp bubbles? Do you feel that allowing caps and supers to fit a super-point (a la HICs) would balance out this issue?

Mina Wolf: Yes SC’s are a little overpowered since it only really has to fear one type of ship in the scripted HIC. I would actually welcome a super point that is able to be used by a sieged dread, but supers definetly don’t need the ability to fit superpoints, that would just make the SC more imbalanced.

Sov Wars: Any plans on getting some of the new CONCORD LP named mods? Do you think CCP should hurry up and release meta 3,4, and t2 mods?

Mina Wolf: I will most likely invest in the new CONCORD LP items. As for t2 items I think I would like to see some bug fixes or maybe some FW love before they introoduce t2 cap mods.

Sov Wars: How did it feel when you first jumped the Nyx into combat?

Mina Wolf: It was the most nervous I’ve been going into a battle in a long time. Short version is that a large Minmatar BS fleet with carrier support engaged a large Amarr BS fleet with carrier and dread support. The fight took place in the Amarr home system of Huola where I was worried about the ability of the Amarr to quickly reship into HIC’s. Add on top of that the fact that the Amarr fleet had escalated the battle with their own SC. I’m not lieing when I say I was worried that my first fight with the Nyx would be my last. However we were able to win the fight and hold the field, and once I was safely tucked away I gave myself sometime to have a drink and smoke some cigs. It was definetly one of the most nerve racking and fun fights I’ve had in all my years of playing EvE.

Sov Wars will be publishing a bi-weekly column focusing on well known pilots who were formerly in the militias. Today’s interview is with Garst Tyrell of No.Mercy. Garst was an FC for the Amarr in ’09.Interview conducted by Raphael Saint.

Sov Wars: What made you choose the Amarr?

Garst Tyrell: I originally aligned with the Amarr faction pretty much at the start of my career. I rolled true Amarr with a vague understanding of their race’s pvp ships in the scheme of eve combat (armor tanks and lasers) which appealed to me, however I also wanted to join PIE at the time as a corp to learn the game with.

Sov Wars: Was your involvement with FW soley because of PIE or did you have an interest in pursuing FW from the start as well?

Garst Tyrell: I originally read about faction war in EVE and decided thats what I wanted to do, at least to learn the game. In the end it didn’t live up to my expectations but it was a great place to start, and I lucked out that Amarr was the best faction to be in at the time I went through.

Sov Wars: What is your fondest memory of FW?

Garst Tyrell: That’s an easy one. The battle of Kamela on Halloween 2009, in which the Amarr and Caldari united to destroy a Star Fraction safe pos in the system defended by joint Star Fraction, Minmatar, Gallente, Cry Havoc, and mercenary forces. It ended up being one of the largest battles ever in lowsec, more significant because it didn’t involve nullsec alliances as the main combatants and ended with the destruction of the pos, around 10 Star Fraction and Minmatar caps, and a few hours of straight PVP.

Sov Wars: After a few months toiling in the ranks, you seemed to rise quickly into a popular FC. Tell us about that.

Garst Tyrell: I stumbled into leading a guild and raids in my previous MMO, Age of Conan, which I left to play EVE. As such as I knew that I would inevitably be seeking leadership opportunities in EvE (the ultimate sandbox) and FCing was an easy extension of that. I ‘studied’ initially under Wraithstorm and some of the older FCs. I started taking gangs out and with success came popularity and it became easier and easier to raise fleets. PIE offered neglible leadership opportunities within the corp so I found my outlet through the milita as a whole, and in the end associated and related much more to them than my corp.

Sov Wars: Tell us about No.Mercy during it’s FW days.

Garst Tyrell: Well the story about No.Mercy starts before the official founding of the corp. Star Fraction had regularly postured itself as a parasite on the Minmatar, whoring their kills and knocking textwalls out onto the forums. Sadly they also exploited FW and wardec mechanics by wardeccing various Amarr corps and harassing them in highsec and in lowsec by hiding in Minmatar fleets where the Amarr would be forced to go global to shoot back, and take gate aggroe and sec hits.

PIE itself was subject to various Star Fraction wardecs over my time there. As mentioned, I was associating more and more with the general militia. I grew disillusioned with PIE and resolved to form my own corp, which in any case had been an aspiration of mine since starting EVE.

SF’s harassment of Amarr was not the reason for my corp’s creation, however it did provide us a nice focus in the early months as we started out. I gathered up many of the top Amarr pilots at the time and were promptly wardecced by SF who recognized us as a threat. Inevitably, FW’s prevalance of spies and mixed skill levels, as well as the SF and merc wardecs, caused us to turn inward more often, running corp fleets and excluding militia when we needed ‘to get shit done’ which allowed us to flourish as a pvp corp indepedent of FW.

We concentrated on growing the corp member base, knocking down some highsec offline pos towers for easy isk, and sparing with Minmatar and the SF on a regular basis. I guess the tl;dr version of No.Mercy in his FW days, is an indepedent pvp corp who still liked to use the free FW wardec to find lots of targets and fight off SF and the mercs they hired (unsuccessfully) to destroy us. We always planned on growing beyond FW, but tried not to overreach ourselves too fast. I feel we were successful in that regard.

Sov Wars: You spoke about having to turn inwards because of spies in the general militia. Did No.Mercy ever engage other Amarr Militia corps?

Garst Tyrell: Only once, when an old militia corp and their egocentric leader attempted to extort us out of isk we had made from a highsec wardec. Over Christmas break they sent us a claim asking reimbursement for capital BPOs we had destroyed/seized in the POS shoot weeks after the event.

The entire situation was fishy and after one of their directors betrayed them for the promise of isk (he got none, but his loyalty or lack there of was cheap), we received control of their forums and confirmed our suspicions that it was a set up. In response to our refusal to pay them any isk, they wardecced us and hired NOIR mercenary corp to destroy us.

NOIR was an amusing and professional opponent, however they found out the hard way that we weren’t the usual carebear targets mercs get hired against and broke even in the war, despite some slippups from individual members who are no longer with us. They later referred to No Mercry as ‘their toughest targets.’

Interestingly this was also about the time we left the militia formally and began working lightly with BANE alliance and the Amamake pirates at the time before leaving for nullsec. We barely saw the amarr corp that decced us (more bark than bite) but unfortunately the war also forced me to realize that one of the former millitias FC’s I learned from who had joined our corp, was a spy, and after we caught him we blew up his zealot and sent him packing. A shame, I was trying to get him to bring his brother’s carrier, which would have put him in an awkward spot.

Sov Wars: There seemed to be a bit of a controvery concerning No.Mercy’s highsec wars. Did it have any effect on the timing of No.Mercy’s departure from FW?

Garst Tyrell: None whatsoever. We had outgrown FW and the only controversy was found in PIE and SF’s rp posturing, realistically no one cared if some afk carebears in highsec lost their offline POSes.

Sov Wars: Were there any other factors in No.Mercy’s departure other than you felt it was time to move on?

Garst Tyrell: FW is often cyclical but overall the trend was for the pvp to become staler. Mostly we wanted to grow the corp and began researching PVP alliances to join. We felt it was not possible to be a widely respected pvp corp and remain in FW due to peoples (often justified) preconceptions about the militias.

Sov Wars: What is No.Mercy currently up to?

Garst Tyrell: After passing through a long period of nullsec life in former Gentleman’s Club alliance (former ATLAS bloc) and later running Derelik region in lowsec, both stories in their own right, we moved to our current residence in Venal region. Venal is in the heart of the northern coalition naplist and npc 0.0, meaning that npc corps own the stations therefore anyone can dock like lowsec, but it has all the pvp mechanics of sov 0.0 such as bubbles. It is a perfect base for raiding the surrounding regions and growing the corp through adversity.

Sov Wars: What is your ultimate goal for No.Mercy?

Garst Tyrell says: NM and by extension our alliance Merciless is a professional 0.0 pvp outfit. We have fun in EVE by seeking ever greater challenges, stagnation is death to us. Venal was a natural extension of that philosophy as we have surrounded ourselves with enemies and refuse to build a blue list. Ultimately we’d like to see Merciless become a respected indepedent pvp group, eschewing naplists and ‘easy’ pvp like Rancer or Jita camping for more challenging, and therefore more rewarding, pvp campaigns. Should a large coalition someday threaten in earnest the existence of the NC, we’d like Merciless to be part of the group that takes this naplist down once and for all. A man can dream..a man can dream.

Sov Wars: We thank you for taking time out to speak with us. Any parting thoughts?

Garst Tyrell says: FW is a unique pvp opportunity in EVE and a great place to learn the game, however I strongly feel PVP pilots should strive to move on to other things in EVE eventually. Eve and life in general is more fun when you constantly challenge yourself, and I encourage serious PvPers to seek out quality small, independent pvp corps, be that nullsec or lowsec, to fly with to continue learning. I didnt realize how much I didnt know until I left for 0.0, and to this day im still picking up new tactics and ideas from rival groups. There is a distinct difference in the quality of fights in my honest opinion between FW, and say nullsec, where casual pvp is demphasized and people start playing to win, which appeals to me greatly. Then again No.Mercy has always been a competitive group. In closing I say keep on kicking ass Amarr, and warn pilots to stay away from the naplist 0.0 blobs. Believe me pressing f1 in a 500 man fleet is no where as fun as CCP’s trailer’s make it seem like it is.

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Sovereignty Wars

Character: Elisen

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